Month: March 2026

Thrilled to share our latest #𝗦𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗔𝗱𝘃𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 work on a 𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗿-𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗲, 𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗱, 𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗵𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗼𝘁 that can crawl on sand, jump, and steerably swim – powered by a 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗲 𝘃𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲-𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗽𝘂𝘁 𝘃𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲-𝗰𝗼𝗶𝗹 𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗼𝗿 (𝗩𝗖𝗠).

At small scales, reliable 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 is tough: transmissions and active mechanisms mean moving parts and dynamic seals that are fragile and 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘬-𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘦. We wanted an amphibious robot that stays sealed and robust – yet still supports multiple locomotion modes.

🧠✨ 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗱:

An 𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗮-𝗱𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 + 𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗽𝘂𝗹𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 that:

🔹 Uses a variable-output VCM inside a fully sealed rigid shell (no external moving parts)

🔹 Switches among three modes: jumping, full-stroke vibration (land), and small-stroke vibration (water)

🔹 Uses asymmetric, tilted passive fins for frequency-tuned steering in water (IDMP)

🔹 Explains hydrodynamics via aquatic tests, high-speed PIV, and CFD

All of this – 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿 + 𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝘀. No exposed legs, gears, or propellers – making sealing and durability much easier at the centimeter scale.

🎯 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘀:

✅ 24-g prototype (57.5 × 36 × 36 mm) with a fully enclosed shell

✅ ~1.4 BL/s (~78 mm/s) on dry sand; 41.6 mm/s on flat ground

✅ Jump height up to 17.16 mm at 15 V; continuous “tumbler” jumping

✅ Load carrying: 960 g (~40× body weight) and escape under 5-kg loads

✅ In water: min turning radius 5.6 mm; straight swim at 35/44/60 Hz (~32/35/28 mm/s); peak yaw -22°/s (30 Hz) or 16°/s (40 Hz)

💡 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗶𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀:

This work shows how inertia + mode-switchable actuation can bridge the 𝗺𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘂𝗺-𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗲-𝗼𝗳𝗳, enabling jumping and swimming in the same tiny robot. Passive asymmetric fins turn simple reciprocation into steerable thrust – 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗻𝗼 𝗮𝗱𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀.

🌱 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁?

Future work will focus on improving environmental adaptability via 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭 and adaptive structures, and optimizing energy efficiency + onboard power 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.

Special shoutout to the team –

Lingqi Tang, Yongzun Yang (co-first authors), Bing Li, Bingfu Zhang, Qiguang He, Hongliang Ren, Yao Li – for making this project possible.

🔗 Paper link: https://lnkd.in/gFDfZYKq

🔖 #ScienceAdvances #Robotics #AmphibiousRobots #Microrobots #InertiaDriven #Locomotion #VCM #PIV #CFD

🏥 Accurate visualization of subtle vascular dynamics remains a significant challenge in minimally invasive surgery, where dynamic complexities often limit decision-making reliability. Our paper introduces 𝗘𝗻𝗱𝗼𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗠𝗮𝗴, a framework designed to 𝗲𝗻𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘃𝗮𝘀𝗰𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 in endoscopic videos while preserving surrounding tissue structure. The approach integrates 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗱𝗶𝗰 𝗥𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 to minimize error accumulation over time and 𝗛𝗶𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗧𝗶𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗲-𝗮𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝗴𝗻𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 for adaptive vessel tracking.

📊 To validate robustness, we constructed 𝗘𝗻𝗱𝗼𝗩𝗠𝗠𝟮𝟰, a benchmark dataset spanning four surgical specialties and diverse intraoperative scenarios. Quantitative metrics and expert surgeon evaluations indicate improved magnification accuracy and image quality compared to existing methods.

🤝 We extend our sincere gratitude to our collaborators across The Chinese University of Hong Kong (An Wang, Mengya Xu, Yiting Chang, Prof Hongliang Ren), The University of Hong Kong (Rulin Zhou), Southern Medical University (苟龙飞, Prof Hao Chen), The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University (Yiru Ye), Southern University of Science and

Technology (Prof Jiankun Wang), and Singapore General Hospital (Prof Chwee Ming Lim) for their invaluable contributions to this multidisciplinary work.

The paper is available at https://lnkd.in/ggPEFswF

#MotionMagnification #SurgicalAI #Endoscopy